I plan to improve this over time. For now I am shamelessly plundering material from the comments policy at Human Transit among others.
Reinventing Urban Transport welcomes and encourages comments from people who want to
No Spam or anything that resembles spam
I will probably delete or block your comment if:
It is not necessary to reveal your name to post a comment, but you must provide a valid email address. The address is visible to me but not to readers. I reserve the right to email you at this address to verify your comment, and to delete your comment if the email is bounced back as undeliverable, or receives no response.
Be aware of the international audience of this blog
Reinventing Urban Transport is an international blog, with readers in many places around the world. To ensure that your comment will make sense to this audience it would be useful to be clear about what specific places you are talking about and how its transport policy context might be special. Do not assume that readers will understand local jargon or abbreviations from your country. Try to use international English. For example, South Asian participants should please avoid the use of 'crores' and 'lakhs'.
Be clear who you are replying to
If your comment is in response to a previous one, make it clear which one. Comments are not threaded, so your comment may appear at some distance from the one you're responding to.
A standard format for this is "@ Rajiv" when responding to commenter Rajiv. But it's fine if you just start with "Rajiv, ..."
If no addressee is specified, I will tend to assume that "you" refers to me, the blog author.
Be On-Topic
Comments should be related to the topic of the post. This is interpreted broadly.
Link to Relevant Sources
Links to relevant sources, including within this blog, are encouraged.
Avoid Invective and Abuse
While it is normal to feel frustrated when engaging with people who have different views, the only way to keep conversation constructive is to avoid invective. Invective is a pejorative statement about a person, rather than about his/her views.
Invective almost always reduces the credibility of the person who utters it.
Factual statements about a person's views or qualifications, e.g. "x is a longtime opponent of y," or for that matter "x engages in invective," are generally fair game, especially if supported by links to relevant sources or examples.
When I see invective statements in comments, I reserve the right to delete the comment.
One Final Tip
Finally, if you're starting to get into a heated exchange, try this technique: Don't state a judgment. Instead, ask a question.
Reinventing Urban Transport welcomes and encourages comments from people who want to
- share relevant information, including narratives about their own experience, or
- ask questions, or
- engage in thoughtful conversations that could potentially transform or enrich their own views.
No Spam or anything that resembles spam
I will probably delete or block your comment if:
- it is spam
- the link on your name is to a commercial website.
- you say something like “Great Post” then link to a commercial site or to a blog which is obviously a thinly veiled advertisement to a commercial service, such as car transport services, or such like. I do not consider automobile-industry-related services to be relevant to the mission of the blog.
- you are clearly an aggressive affiliate marketer.
It is not necessary to reveal your name to post a comment, but you must provide a valid email address. The address is visible to me but not to readers. I reserve the right to email you at this address to verify your comment, and to delete your comment if the email is bounced back as undeliverable, or receives no response.
Be aware of the international audience of this blog
Reinventing Urban Transport is an international blog, with readers in many places around the world. To ensure that your comment will make sense to this audience it would be useful to be clear about what specific places you are talking about and how its transport policy context might be special. Do not assume that readers will understand local jargon or abbreviations from your country. Try to use international English. For example, South Asian participants should please avoid the use of 'crores' and 'lakhs'.
Be clear who you are replying to
If your comment is in response to a previous one, make it clear which one. Comments are not threaded, so your comment may appear at some distance from the one you're responding to.
A standard format for this is "@ Rajiv" when responding to commenter Rajiv. But it's fine if you just start with "Rajiv, ..."
If no addressee is specified, I will tend to assume that "you" refers to me, the blog author.
Be On-Topic
Comments should be related to the topic of the post. This is interpreted broadly.
Link to Relevant Sources
Links to relevant sources, including within this blog, are encouraged.
Avoid Invective and Abuse
While it is normal to feel frustrated when engaging with people who have different views, the only way to keep conversation constructive is to avoid invective. Invective is a pejorative statement about a person, rather than about his/her views.
Invective almost always reduces the credibility of the person who utters it.
Factual statements about a person's views or qualifications, e.g. "x is a longtime opponent of y," or for that matter "x engages in invective," are generally fair game, especially if supported by links to relevant sources or examples.
When I see invective statements in comments, I reserve the right to delete the comment.
One Final Tip
Finally, if you're starting to get into a heated exchange, try this technique: Don't state a judgment. Instead, ask a question.